Piano actions



A. BERNSTEIN PIANO ACTIONS Get. 6, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 28 1962 INVENTOR HI-How Bernstein v @AMU ATTORNEYS Oct. 6, 1964 A. BERNSTEIN 3,151,516

' PIANO ACTIONS Filed March 28, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTCR ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,151,516 PIAND AC'IIQNS Arthur Bernstein, 480 Bedford St, Stamford, Conn. Filed Mar. 28, 1962, Ser. No. 183,100 15 Claims. (Ci. 84--240) This invention relates to piano actions, more particularly it relates to upright piano actions empioying novel hammer guiding means and novel damper control means for providing tonal quality, touch and response vastly superior to that provided by previous upright piano actions and substantially equivalent to that found in quality grand pianos.

It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide an upright piano action having touch, response, damping, and dynamic control substantially equivalent to that provided by quality grand pianos.

It is another object of the invention to provide an upright piano action of the above character wherein tone quality is maintained for a greatly increased time span.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such an upright piano action having a substantially increased maintenance free lifetime.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide such an upright piano act-ion wherein abrasion of the hammers is greatly reduced.

Another object of the invention is to provide such an upright piano action wherein a greatly improved soft pedal may be included as standard equipment.

Still another object of the invention is to provide such an upright piano action wherein an improved individual note or chord holding pedal can be included as standard equipment.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an upright piano action of the above character wherein the hammers can be conveniently adjusted for overstrung as well as normally strung strings.

A further object of the invention is to provide an uprightpiano action of the above character wherein the dampers may be conveniently adjusted for obliquely overstrung. as well as normally strung strings.

Still another object of the invention is to provide such an upright piano action wherein the lifetime of the jack pivots is greatly increased.

Another object of the inventon is to provide an upright piano action of the above character which may be inexpensively mass-produced.

A further object of the invention is to provide an upright piano action of the above character which is characterized by its compactness and ease of access for maintenance and service attention.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the constructions hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed descriptions taken in connection with'the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view, partially in section, of the preferred form of upright piano action of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a partial side view, partially in section, of the upright piano action shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side view, partially in section, of the upright piano action illustrated in FIGURE 1 with the key depressed; and

FIGURE 4 is a side view, partially in section, of an alternative embodiment of the invention.

Similar reference characters refer to similar elements throughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the novel upright piano action of the present invention in general comprises a hammer 12 rigidly mounted to the end of a hammer shank 14. The shank 14 is pivotally mounted to a pair of hammer guide arms 16 and 18. The hammer guide arms 16 and 18 are in turn each pivctally mounted to an action support 20 rigidly mounted on an action rail 22. The action support 20, hammer shank 14, and hammer guide arms 16 and 18 thus form a parallelogram which guides the hammer 12 in its motion toward and against a string 24. A novel linkage, generally indicated at 26, is provided between a key 28 and a jack 30 for imparting momentum to the hammer 12.

A damper, generally indicated at 32, is rigidly mounted on damper arm 34. Damper arm 34 is pivotally mounted to damper support 35. The damper 32 is urged against the string 24 by means of an adjustable weight 36. The damper 32 is moved away from the string 24 by means of a spoon 38 when key 28 is depressed and may be held in this position by an individual note damper cam 40. The damper 32 may also be urged away from the string 24 by rotation of aloud pedal cam 42.

Action rail 22 is rigidly mounted on a keybed 44 by means of posts 45. Soft pedal means, generally indicated at 47, are provided for moving the entire keybed and action a short distance tnanvensely of the strings.

More particularly, and still referring to FIGURE 1, a key 28 is rotatably mounted in the usual manner upon a keybed or frame 44 and includes a conventional capstan screw 46. Resting on the capstan 46 is an elongated lever 48, pivotally mounted to action support 20 at a pivot 50. The capstan 46 engages the lever 48 at a leather face 52 which covers a recessed felt pad 54. A second pivot 56 mounted in one end of the whip lever 48 pivotally mounts a whip link 58. Whip link 58 is pivotally connected to a Whip 60 by means of a pivot 62. Whip 61B is pivotally mounted to action support 20 at pivot 64.

A jack 30 is pivotally mounted to whip 60 at pivot 66. It is biased in the clockwise direction by means of a compression spring 68 so that a rebound check pad 70 of felt mounted on the bottom surface of the jack 30 engages the whip 613. Check 70, if convenience dictates, may be mounted to the surface of the whip 60 rather than to the jack 30. The jack is positioned to engage a butt 72 constructed in the conventional manner from a leather encased felt cylinder. Butt 72 is mounted on hammer guide arm 16.

When the key 28 is depressed raising capstan 46, lever 48 is rotated about pivot 50. The ratio of the distance from the pivot 50 to the capstan 46 and the distance from the capstan 46 to the pivot 56 is adjusted, to provide the desired amplification in the motion of the pivot 56 vis-avis the movement of capstan 46 to insure-that the hammer 12 receives enough motion to strike the-string 24. The upward arcuate motion of the pivot 56 causes the whipv I"; 69 to rotate in the clockwise direction about pivot 64. This motion is transmitted to the jack 3% and the jack rotates with the whip so about pivot 64.

The jack 3t therefore presses against the butt 72 causing guide arm 15 to rotate about a pivot 74 by which it is mounted to action support 2%. Thus, the hammer 12 will be caused to move toward the string 24.

Now referring to FIGURE 2, when the key has been depressed less than its full downward travel, one end 76 of the jack 3d engages an adjustable set-off 73 mounted in the conventional manner to a set-d rail 8 Engagement of the jack 3% with set-off 78 causes the jack to rotate about pivot on in the counterclockwise direction. As the key is further depressed (see FIGURE 3), the jack 30 becomes disengaged from the butt '72. If the key 28 has been depressed with proper force, suflicient momentum will have been transferred from the jack 3b to the hammer 12, shank 14 and guide arms 16 and 18 to cause the hammer 12 to continue to move until it engages the string 24 causing it to vibrate.

Still referring to FIGURE 3, the hammer 12 engages the string 24 when the guide arms 16 and 18 are substantially vertical; preferably, just as the guide arms 16 and 18 approach the vertical. This is because the ban mer 12 will then have the least vertical motion for a given amount of horizontal motion. in this manner, rubbing of the felt d2 of the hammer 12 against the string 24 is reduced to a minimum.

Ordinarily, the hammer 12 will rebound from the string 24 and move by its own weight under the influence of gravity back towards the conventional felt rest 83. Before this position is reached however, the hammer shank 14 engages a rebound check 84* mounted to the end of the whip 6t).

The felt face $6 of the rebound check as is adjusted to intercept the hammer shank 14 before the butt 72 moves below the jack 3%. Thus when the key is released, all parts are returned to their rest positions as shown in FIGURE 1.

As previously stated, the hammer 12 is normally reset by gravity. Because, for one reason or another, it is possible that the hammer can stick in engagement with the string 24, in which case the hammers weight would not cause it to reset, a spring 83 may be provided connected between the shank 14 and the guide arm To. When the action is at rest as shown in FIGURE 1, the spring 8% is relaxed and exerts no force between the shank 14 and guide arm 16. The spring is chosen to be of the correct length so that it exerts a restoring force on the shank 1 only when the shank and the guide arms f6 and 18 are substantially in the vertical position shown by dotted lines in FIGURE 3. Preferably the spring 88 should not exert any force until the jack 30 has been set off from the butt 72.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that since the jack Si? is released from the butt 72 long before the hammer 12 strikes the string 24, it is the momentum imparted to the hammer 12 before the jack is set off from the butt 72 that controls the amount of energy imparted to the string 24.

Again referring to FIGURE 1, a spoon 38 is mounted .to lever 48 as previously described. When the key is depressed, the spoon moves forward as illustrated in FIG- URE 3 engaging a leather face 83 mounted on damper arm 34-. Damper arm 34 is pivoted at pivot 9% to damper support 35, and therefore rotates in the counterclockwise direction about pivot 91). This lifts the damper 32 from the string 24 as shown in FIGURE 3. Damper support 35 is rigidly supported on a damper rail 37 mounted to the frame of the piano. I

Damper 32 comprises the usual'felt pad 92 ofconventional construction for engaging the string 24 and is mounted by means of a stifi wire 94 to the damper arm 34.

Operation of the loud pedal (not shown) rotates loud pedal cam 42 clockwise to engage damper arm 34 at face 823 and to rotate damper 32 from the string 24.

If it is desired to hold the note, operation of the individual note or chord holding pedal (not shown) rotates cam 40 into engagement with a felt tab 96 recessed into damper arm 34 as shown by dotted lines in FIGURE 3. The felt tab 96 is flexible and is reinforced by a stiff insert 93 which may, for example, be formed of plastic material. So long as the cam 40 remains in engagement with the felt as, the damper 32 will be lifted from the string 24, and the string will vibrate freely. This is true even when the key 28 is released and the spoon 38 returns to the position shown in FIGURE 1. It will be understoood that if cam id is rotated clockwise before key 28 is depressed, spoon 38 will not rotate damper arm 34 so far that tab 96 will engage cam 40. Thus, a note not being held by operation of the individual chord holding pedal may be played in the usual manner.

After the spoon 38 and the cam 40 have been returned to their rest positions, the damper arm 34'Wlll be rotated in the clockwise direction about pivot because of the weight of the adjustable weight 36 and preferably an additional fixed weight lltiti set into the damper arm 3-4. Thus the amount of dampening can be adjusted within predetermined limits by turning the screw threaded adjustable weight 36 in-and out of the damper arm 34.

The action of the present invention may be conveniently adjusted for obliquely overstrung strings. Referring to FIGURE 1, the hammer 12, of conventional construction, comprises a base Th2 including a frusto-conical portion TM terminating in a cylindrical portion 106. Portions 10d and 1% fit into a correspondingly shaped socket 1% in the shaft 14. Thus the hammer 12 may be rotated to any desired orientation to correctly strike an obliquely strung string. A set screw 1198 is provided to rigidly hold hammer 12 in a given predetermined orientation.

The damper 32 may be brought to one side or the other of the action for engaging an obliquely strung string by rotating damper wire 94 in the damper arm 34. The damper 32 may be rotatedto the correct angle for engagement with an oblique string by rotating it with respect to the wire 94. Set screws 95 and W hold the damper in the correct position.

All of the dampers 32 may be removed from all of the strings Ed by rotating the loud pedal cam 42 by means of a conventional linkage to the loud pedal. Cam 42, when rotated into the position shown by dotted lines in FIG- URE l, engages the leather face 88 of each damper arm 34 in the keyboard and lifts all dampers 32 from the strings 24.

It will be understood that the piano action shown in FTGURES i, 2 and 3 is for a single key and the string or strings associated therewith. In a piano, the action is duplicated for each of the keys provided. Thus, in an 88-key piano, eighty-eight actions will be mounted on the action rail 22. Eighty-eight keys will be mounted on the keybed 44, and 88 dampers will be mounted on damper rail 37.

As can best be seen in FIGURE 3, action rail 22 is supported on posts 45 (one of which is shown) rigidly connected to keybed 4d. Set-off rail 80 is also mounted to keybed 44- by posts, not shown. Dam-per rail 37 is mounted to the frame of the piano. The keybed 4 d mounts pins (not shown) at the ends thereof as in a grand piano so that the keybed, together with the action, may be moved transversely of the strings to provide a soft pedal action. Conventional means 47 comprising a wedge 142 and a vertically moving actuator 14 5 are provided for so moving the keybed 44. The soft pedal means 47 is, of course, connected in the usual manner to the soft pedal so that when the soft pedal is depressed, the entire keybed 44 and action supported on action rail 22 moves approximately A: inch transversely of the strings. The hammers 12 then each engage one less string 24 associated therewith or engage the strings on soft ridges of the hammer rather than in the relatively harder valleys. The leather faces 88 of the damper arms 34 are, of course, wide enough to accommodate movement of the spoon 38 so that the dampers 34 will operate when the soft pedal is in use. Since the action is mounted to the keybed 44, it may conveniently be removed for servicing as in a grand piano.

Now referring to FIGURE 4, in an alternative embodiment of the invention, a modified whip 110 and jack 112 may be provided. In this embodiment, the whip 110, rather than being connected to the whip amplifier 48 by a whip link 58, engages the lever 48 at a leather face 114 mounted over a felt insert 116. The face 114 rests on a capstan screw 118 mounted in lever 48. Thus, in the alternative embodiment, the lever 48 drives the whip 110 in the same way that key 28 (FIGURE 3) drives lever 43.

Whip 110 is mounted to action support 20 at a pivot 64. When the key is depressed and lever 48 rotates in the clockwise direction, whip 110 is also rotated in the clockwise direction. Jack 112 therefore exerts a force against butt 120 mounted in the end of hammer shaft 14. The jack 112 remains engaged with the butt 120 until it is set off by means of set-off 78 mounted on set-off rail 80. The hammer 12 and shaft 14 then continue their movement until they reach the string. If the key is still depressed when the hammer shaft 14 rebounds, the guide arm 16 will come against a hammer rebound check 122 which includes felt face 124. Check 122 is mounted by means of a stiff wire 126 to whip 119. If the key is released before the rebound, the jack 112 under its own weight or under the influence of a spring 113 rotates clockwise about the pivot 129 until it comes to rest again-st a jack rebound check 128. Check 128 is similar to hammer rebound check 122 and mounted to whip 110 by means of a stiff wire 130.

'All pivots shown in the drawings are constructed in the usual way and include a brass pin surrounded by a felt bearing lubricated with graphite.

Thus the linkage provided between key 24 and hammer 12 may take many diverse forms depending on the space requirements of the piano being designed and considerations ditcated by the cost of manufacture, ease of assembly and maintenance of the action. a

It will be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained, and since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings, shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention, which as a matter of lan- I guage, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An upright pianoaction comprising in combination: (A) an action support; (B) a pair of hammer guide arms (a) pivotally mounted to said support; (C) a hammer (a) pivotally mounted to said hammer guide arms; (b) said hammer and said hamer guide arms forming three sides of a parallelogram for guiding said hammer toward a string, and (c) said hammer engaging the string when the ratio of its motion along the string to its motion normal to the string is substantially at a minimum; (D) a key; (E) a lever p (a) pivotally mounted to said action support, (b) operably engaged by said key;

6 (F) first motion transmitting means (a) operatively engaged with said lever and said hammer, (b) transmitting the motion of said lever to said hammer and said hammer guide arms, and (c) the point of engagement of said first motion transmitting means and said lever being a greater distance from the fulcrum of said lever than the point of engagement of said key and said lever; (G) a damper support; (H) a damper pivot (a) mounted on said damper support; (I) a damper arm (a) pivotally mounted to said damper support at said damper pivot; (J a damper biasing weight (a) mounted on said damper arm and (1)) adjustable to move the center of gravity of said damper arm toward and away from said damper pivot; (K) a damper mounted on said damper arm; and, (L) second motion transmitting means (a) operable by said lever (b) to rotate said damper arm about said pivot; (M) loud pedal means (a) operably engageable with said damper arm (b) to rotate said damper away from a string; (N) a tab 1 (a) mounted on said damper arm; and, (O) a note holding cam (a) operably engageable with said tab when said damper arm has been rotated by said second motion transmitting means (b) to hold said damper away from said string;

and, (P) soft pedal means (a) engageable with said action support (12) for moving said action support and the action mounted thereon a short distance transversely of the strings of a piano. 2. An upright piano action comprising in combination: (A) an action support; (B) a pair of hammer guide arms (a) pivotally mounted to said support; (C) a hammer (a) pivotally mounted to said hammer guide arms; a y; (E) a lever (a) pivotally mounted to said action support, (12) operably engaged by said key; (F) first motion transmitting means (a) operatively engaged with said lever and said 'hammer, (b) transmitting the motion of said lever to said hammer and said hammer guide arms, and (c) the point of engagement of said first motion transmitting means and said lever being a greater distance from the fulcrum of said lever than the point of engagement of said key and said lever; (G) a damper support; (H) a damper pivot (a) mounted on said damper support; (I) a damper arm (a) pivotally mounted to said damper support at said damper pivot; (I) a damper biasing weight (a) mounted on said damper arm and ([2) adjustable to move the center of gravity of said damper arm toward and away from said damper pivot; (K) a damper mounted on said damper arm; and, (L) second motion transmitting means (a) operable by said lever (b) to rotate said damper arm about said pivot.

3. The combinations defined in claim 2 further defined in that said hammer and said hammer guide arms form 3 sides of a parallelogram for guiding said hammer toward a string and said hammer engages the spring when the ratio of its motion along the string to its motion normal to the string is substantially at a minimum.

4. The combination defined in claim 2 and;

(M) loud pedal means (a) operably engageable with said damper arm (1)) to rotate said damper away from a string; (N) a tab (a) mounted on said damper arm; and, (O) a note holding cam (a) operably engageable with said tab when said damper arm has been rotated by said second motion transmitting means (b) to hold said damper away from the string.

5. The combination defined in claim '2 and soft pedal means,

(a) engaged with said action support (b) for moving said action support and the action mounted thereon a short distance transversely of the strings of a piano.

6. An upright piano action comprising in combination:

(A) a key bed;

(3) a piano key mounted on said key bed;

(C) an action support;

(D) a lever (a) rotatably mounted on said action support and (b) operable by said piano key; (E) a whip" (a) pivotally mounted to said action-support and (b) operably engaged with said lever; (F) a jack (a) pivotally mounted to said whip; (G) a pair of hammer guide arms (a) substantially equal in length and (b) pivotally mounted to said action support;

(H) a hammer (a) pivotally mounted to said hammer guide arms (1)) to form 3 sides of a parallelogram therewith;

(1) means operatively engaging said hammer and hammer guide arms with said jack; and,

(l) a set-off (a) engaging said jack when said key is depressed before said hammer engages a string (11) to disengage said jack from said hammer and said hammer guide arms.

7. The combination defined in claim 6, and;

(K) a damper support;

(L) a damper pivot (a) mounted on said damper support;

(M) a damper arm (a) pivotally mounted to said damper support at said damper pivot,

(b) said damper arm being engaged with said lever, an

(c) rotating about said damper pivot when said key is depressed;

(N) a damper mounted to said damper arm; and,

(Q) a Weight (a) mounted on said damper arm and (b) adjustable toward and away from said damper pivot.

8. The combination defined in claim 6 further defined in that said action support is rigidly mounted to said key bed; and soft pedal means for moving said key bed and said action support a short distance transversely of the strings of a piano.

9. The combination defined in claim 6 and a whip link pivotally connected to said whip amplifier and to said whip.

10. The combination defined in claim 6 and a capstan ea mounted on said key; and said whip amplifier in its rest position resting on said capstan.

11. The combination defined in claim 6 and a capstan mounted on said lever and said Whip in its rest position resting on said capstan.

12. An upright piano action comprising in combination;

(A) a key bed;

(B) a piano key mounted on said key bed;

(C) an action support;

(D) lever (a) rotatably mounted on said action support and (b) operable by said piano key;

(E) a whip (a) pivotally mounted to said action support and (b) operably connected to said amplifier;

(F) a jack (a) pivotally mounted to said whip;

(G) a hammer for striking the string of a piano;

(H) hammer guiding means (a) for guiding said hammer in a direction substantially normal to the string as it strikes thereon;

(I) means operatively engaging said hammer with said jack; and,

(J) a set-off (a) engaging said jack when said key is depressed before said hammer engages a string and,

(b) disengaging said jack from said hammer and said hammer guide arms.

13. The combination defined in claim 12 and:

(K) a damper support;

(L) a damper pivot (a) mounted on said damper support;

(M) a damper arm (a) pivotally mounted to said damper support at a damper pivot,

(11) said damper arm being operatively engaged with said lever, and

(c) rotating about said damper pivot when said key is depressed;

(N) a damper mounted on said damper arm; and,

(O) a weight (a) mounted on said damper arm and ([7) adjustable toward and away from said damper pivot.

14. In a piano action, a hammer mechanism comprising in combination:

(A) an action support; (B) a pair of hammer guide arms (a) substantially equal in length and (b) pivotally mounted to said action support; (C) a hammer shank (a) pivotally mounted to said hammer guide arms (b) to form 3 sides of a parallelogram therewith; and, (D) a hammer head (a) mounted at the end of said shank and (b) engaging a string when its motion along said string vis-a-vis its motion towards said string is at a minimum. 15. In an upright piano action, a damper mechanism comprising in combination:

(A) a damper support;

(B) a damper pivot (a) mounted on said damper support;

(C) a damper arm pivotally mounted to said support at said damper pivot (D) a damper mounted on said damper arm;

(E) an adjustable weight (a) mounted on said damper arm and (b) when adjusted moving the center of gravity of said damper arm towards and away from said damper pivot;

(F) first means for rotating said damper arm in response to actuation of a piano key;

(G) second means fOI rotating Said damper 1m in 533 4 9 Jacobi Feb 5 1 95 response to actuation of a loud pedal; and, 5 31 Schimmel et aL y 19 139 (H) third means for holding said damper arm sub- 5 1,606,671 Smulders Nov. 9, 1926 stantially in the position to which it is rotated by 1,729,528 Todd ept. 24, said first means in response to actuation of an in- FOREIGN PATENTS dividual note holding pedal. 5,833 France APR 16, 10 371,722 Germany Mar. 19,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. AN UPRIGHT PIANO ACTION COMPRISING IN COMBINATION: (A) AN ACTION SUPPORT; (B) A PAIR OF HAMMER GUIDE ARMS (A) PIVOTALLY MOUNTED TO SAID SUPPORT; (C) A HAMMER (A) PIVOTALLY MOUNTED TO SAID HAMMER GUIDE ARMS; (B) SAID HAMMER AND SAID HAMER GUIDE ARMS FORMING THREE SIDES OF A PARALLELOGRAM FOR GUIDING SAID HAMMER TOWARD A STRING, AND (C) SAID HAMMER ENGAGING THE STRING WHEN THE RATIO OF ITS MOTION ALONG THE STRING TO ITS MOTION NORMAL TO THE STRING IS SUBSTANTIALLY AT A MINIMUM; (D) A KEY; (E) A LEVER (A) PIVOTALLY MOUNTED TO SAID ACTION SUPPORT, (B) OPERABLY ENGAGED BY SAID KEY; (F) FIRST MOTION TRANSMITTING MEANS (A) OPERATIVELY ENGAGED WITH SAID LEVER AND SAID HAMMER, (B) TRANSMITTING THE MOTION OF SAID LEVER TO SAID HAMMER AND SAID HAMMER GUIDE ARMS, AND (C) THE POINT OF ENGAGEMENT OF SAID FIRST MOTION TRANSMITTING MEANS AND SAID LEVER BEING A GREATER DISTANCE FROM THE FULCRUM OF SAID LEVER THAN THE POINT OF ENGAGEMENT OF SAID KEY AND SAID LEVER; (G) A DAMPER SUPPORT; (H) A DAMPER PIVOT (A) MOUNTED ON SAID DAMPER SUPPORT; (I) A DAMPER ARM (A) PIVOTALLY MOUNTED TO SAID DAMPER SUPPORT AT SAID DAMPER PIVOT; (J) A DAMPER BIASING WEIGHT (A) MOUNTED ON SAID DAMPER ARM AND (B) ADJUSTABLE TO MOVE THE CENTER OF GRAVITY OF SAID DAMPER ARM TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID DAMPER PIVOT; (K) A DAMPER MOUNTED ON SAID DAMPER ARM; AND, (L) SECOND MOTION TRANSMITTING MEANS (A) OPERABLE BY SAID LEVER (B) TO ROTATE SAID DAMPER ARM ABOUT SAID PIVOT; (M) LOUD PEDAL MEANS (A) OPERABLY ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID DAMPER ARM (B) TO ROTATE SAID DAMPER AWAY FROM A STRING; (N) A TAB (A) MOUNTED ON SAID DAMPER ARM; AND, (O) A NOTE HOLDING CAM (A) OPERABLY ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID TAB WHEN SAID DAMPER ARM HAS BEEN ROTATED BY SAID SECOND MOTION TRANSMITTING MEANS (B) TO HOLD SAID DAMPER AWAY FROM SAID STRING; AND, (P) SOFT PEDAL MEANS (A) ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID ACTION SUPPORT (B) FOR MOVING SAID ACTION SUPPORT AND THE ACTION MOUNTED THEREON A SHORT DISTANCE TRANSVERSELY OF THE STRINGS OF A PIANO. 